Please share this with anyone who may help or who could consider attending. In Missouri, there will be a Board of Pharmacy Meeting on October 19th, and the regulation of temperatures of mail order pharmacy medications will be discussed. I'll share more in another update. I'll update every day until the meeting.

There will be an opportunity to attend virtual or in person.  If you can participate in person, just sitting beside us can help a lot. You don't have to speak if you don't want to. I don't have the times yet as the full agenda has not been posted yet, but confirmed the meeting will take place at:  

Courtyard by Marriott Columbia
3301 Lemone Industrial Blvd.
Columbia, MO 65201 

I started this petition and my advocacy five years ago. My son was nine years old. Today, he just turned fourteen. My goal was to ensure that all patients would have the basics of accessing medications safely by the time he was an adult. As parents, we sometimes choose advocacy now in hopes that our children will not have to as adults. Here, I am questioning if I'll make the goal of ensuring safe access to medications before he becomes an adult. Without the help of others, I will not. 

At the time, I knew forced mail order pharmacy was terrible because temperatures and delays are left unregulated. Patients and pharmacists taught me about many other issues with pharmacy. 

I didn't know that the corporate chain pharmacies were purposefully understaffing, causing harm to patients and pharmacists. One chain pharmacy owns the same mail order pharmacy that we were forced to use. 

Insurance companies' pharmacy benefit managers merged with both mail and corporate retail pharmacies and started the forceful steering of patients to their owned pharmacies, 

Many of us wouldn't choose these pharmacies for ourselves or our children. Most prefer a smaller, locally owned pharmacy or hospital pharmacy. 

Recently, chain pharmacists have been working at unsafe staffing levels in my state of Missouri to the point many walked out. There is another scheduled walkout this month. 

At the same time, the pharmacy benefit managers that have merged with the pharmacies oversee the reimbursements of smaller locally owned pharmacies, causing them to close.

America's safe pharmacy and medication is in trouble. We need your help to save it. 

I am attempting to gather a small group of people to attend the Missouri Board of Pharmacy meeting virtually or in person. We can wear similar colors or bring signs to encourage the Board members to hold these mail order pharmacies accountable for delays and lack of temperature control. If others would like to attend to support the chain pharmacists who walked out due to understaffing, please come. 

The last time that I attended, there were two of us that participated in. We need more to show to pressure the Board of Pharmacy to do their jobs; they'll keep blowing us off, and changes will not be made. Lives will continue to be in harm's way. 

Why will this take members of the general public? Pharmacists risk retaliation. Boards of Pharmacy members are filled with conflicts of interest. 

Please email me if you will attend: Loretta@uniteforsafemeds.com 

I appreciate your support, 

Loretta Boesing, Patient Advocate

Make a Donation to Support Our Advocacy